Neighborhood Long Lunch

So we walk every where to get around.  Walk to the trains, buses, and ferries.  So obviously we go through our neighborhood.  I literally only knew 2 neighbors and they both lived in our little four-plex.  Our street, 'Neutral Street', put on a long lunch Saturday afternoon.  We were told to bring our favorite dish, drinks and chairs down to the end of the street since we live on a dead end.  I made Runzas the day before and Brooks make some pumpkin bread.  We walked down there and literally I didn't recognize one person.  But we started mingling and met a lot of neighbors.  We actually have quite an array of people living in the neighborhood.

The Runzas and pumpkin bread were a huge hit.  People loved them.  Found out some of our neighbors lived in the same town in London where Brooks and Greg were living.  Also a neighbor's wife is from Northern Ireland and her sister married a guy from Bangor (also where Greg & Brooks lived).  Super smaller world.

But we learned more about the neighborhood.  Apparently the mayor of North Sydney lived in the house across the street from us and he was tired of people driving through the neighborhood.  So he blocked the road at the bottom.  Now there is only one way in and out.  It makes the traffic less, but Uber drivers can never figure out how to get to our place.

We found out that our house style was called a "workers cottage".  They said all the people who were working on the Harbor Bridge lived here.  Anything that had 2 stories in the neighborhood were called terraces.  We were told if we have questions about Neutral Street, to go ask Ian, "The Mayor of Neutral Street".  So the shaded area below is the area of North Sydney.  We live to the right of the freeway.

North Sydney is named for the area north of the Sydney CBD, which was named by Captain Arthur Philip after Viscount Sydney, Thomas Townshend, who was British Home Secretary at the time.  North Sydney was previously known as St Leonards.  The 2016 Estimated Resident Population for North Sydney is 8,067, with a population density of 54.79 persons per hectare.

When you zoom into our neighborhood, you can that Whaling Road is the only way in and Neutral Street stops.  The houses that have doors that face Kurraba Rd are part of Neutral Bay and not North Sydney.

It was pretty crazy learning all of this and a bit more on the history of the area.  Had a great time.  Got some invites for coffee on Mondays and we were invited for a "Sausage Sizzle" aka a barbecue on Halloween.  I know I will never remember all of these people's names, but at least there is at least a face and I think people will be more friendly.

Ask questions if you have them.  

xoxo, Ann & Aram